Drug Testing of Police Officers

Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous.” Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates’ article (Editorial Pages, Feb. 13), “Drug Tests Are a Public-Safety Issue,” brings to life Thoreau’s warning.

Wearing the cloak of a well-intentioned, sincere, public servant, Gates ridicules the police officers under his control who claim that his drug-testing policies infringe on their Fourth Amendment rights. Using the idiom of the day, Gates justifies his policy with a broad, paintbrush stroke: “It is no more intrusive than the requirement for periodic eye, heart, and mental-health examinations that officers undergo routinely to ensure their fitness.”

There are a couple of big problems with that argument. I have not yet heard of a police officer, or any other employee for that matter, being subject to criminal sanctions for having a heart disorder. Furthermore, while heart and other disabling conditions can be specified as to their duration and degree of disablement, drug screening can analyze neither.

Drug screening, at best, can specify within several weeks that drugs have been taken. Unfortunately, there are neither state nor federal uniform standards for drug screening at the time of this writing.

Several different tests are used by different companies to detect drug usage. An employee of San Diego Gas and Electric was apparently fired by the company last year on the basis of an erroneous test. She was finally able to prove that she had not been using drugs by virtue of a more conclusive test by a third party.

Chief Gates’ position is well-timed and articulate. It almost sounds as if he is running for mayor of Los Angeles. Hmm, I wonder?

Thoreau also said, “It is never too late to give up our prejudices. No way of thinking or doing can be trusted without proof.” All of the “just say no” platitudes aside, we cannot allow the fears and emotions of the time to carry us away.

In spite of our hatred of drug abuse, we must use every precaution to insure that all Americans are fully protected in their rights. Let us, therefore, proceed to educate persons of the disastrous effects of drugs with all deliberate speed and precaution.

MICHAEL JOHN BOYER

San Diego